


Found You

by Shatterpath



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Ficlet, Hiding, Natasha Feels, Reunions, Team as Family, Undercover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-12
Updated: 2014-09-12
Packaged: 2018-02-17 02:39:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2293883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shatterpath/pseuds/Shatterpath
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hiding no longer works for Natasha, not after The Avengers.</p><p>And Steve...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Found You

**Author's Note:**

> So I've sat on this piece for a couple weeks and have decided that I like it as a random stand alone. This was part of my learning curve for this awesome pair. Hope you enjoy!

"Who is that hottie?"

Normally, Natasha would only peripherally include herself in the normalcy of her coworkers doing mundane things. For all her pretending to be one of them, she would always be the Black Widow beneath the white-bread surface of the slick corporate-America shell she hid behind to keep herself sane and alive.

A glance ruined that little facade.

There were not many men who would suit the sheer mass of that custom bike quite that well. Not to mention wear it like those well-worn Levis and white t-shirt, that hugged every powerful line of his body. And in those intense moments where she could only stare, Natasha remembered everything she had been trying so hard to forget.

From under the helmet came a head full of incongruously dark hair, grown shaggy in her absence, and a matching full beard. If she didn't know how his body moved so impossibly well, she would have barely recognized him. For an endless moment, they regarded the other in the quiet of the generic industrial park, searching for a connection lost but yearned for. This was her partner and playmate, her lover and friend. Running away from him had done nothing but hurt, leaving Natasha exhausted and numb, incapable of finding her way home again.

Somehow, the dispassionate part of her wasn't surprised that he'd finally managed to find her. But the thawed parts her, once cold and sharp with only duty to drive her, flared to the fiery heat he'd helped bring to her tattered soul. A soul that cried out for the connection of him, invited in by the trusting way his body sat open to her against the bike. Not many would trust someone so deadly with their vulnerable soft spots.

Then he quirked a little smile, unsure… loving, and there was no denying the power of the moment.

"Steve," she almost sobbed, overwhelmed with the reality of his suddenly being so close. Betty squawked with surprise when the takeout cup of coffee was shoved at her before Natasha raced over to throw herself bodily at the big, solid haven of him. Arms as open as his suddenly sunny smile welcomed her in, absorbed the impact of her, wrapped her up suffocating tight.

"Natasha," he murmured back, a wealth of meaning in the syllables as he nuzzled her scalp and ears.

So much lay between them; time and distance and feeling broken and raw. They were all things Natasha had convinced herself she could not deal with, that had sent her slinking away from a better life she felt she did not deserve. All of that seemed like only dark, damaged noise now, here in the haven of the feel and smell of him.

"You found me."

"I did."

For long moments, Natasha forgot about everything around her, threw caution to the winds and just let him shield her. Proof that her trust in him was neither transitory or misplaced as Steve felt the looseness in her during those moments she lay against him, breathing deeply while he stroked her hair and kept watch.

"Sorry to disrupt your morning, ladies," Steve eventually said quietly and only then did reality tumble in around Natasha's senses. The plebian job she had been hiding in for weeks, the ordinary women who had tried so hard to befriend her, they had approached hesitantly, confused by their mousy co-worker's sudden burst of emotional excess and near superhuman speed. "I've been looking… for a long time."

"We'll cover for you, Natalie. Take your time."

Nodding wordlessly, she tried not to let the clash of her different selves make her do something even more undignified than leaping all over Steve in broad daylight. Though she may have sniffled just a teeny bit.

"Would you like to ride with me for a bit?"

It wasn't at all the question Natasha had been expecting. Wordlessly thankful for a reprieve from the more serious business that lay between them, she accepted the offer of his raised left arm and slithered around the powerful column of his body to settle on the rear seat.

"There's a helmet in the left saddlebag."

Still so gentle and conversational, Natasha mused to herself, not at all surprised really. It would never be the physical that would catch her, worm past the iron walls around the tattered, soft parts of her inner self. Not matter that Steve's physical self was uniquely potent. It was his kindness and smarts and the strength in which he met every obstacle.

Standing to resituate himself at the controls, Steve surprised Natasha by bouncing up a bit and slamming his weight down on a kick starter she hadn't even noticed. Obediently, the big bike roared to life and he grinned over his shoulder before settling in the 'v' of her thighs and yanking on his own helmet. It was easy, so easy, to fall into the remembered haven of him, wrap her arms around the anchor of his presence, snuggle into his shoulders and feel trust once again.

For a long time, Natasha willingly clung to Steve's body and just breathed deeply. For so long she had been walking on eggshells, hiding herself and her pain. Steve felt the tremors in her and took a moment to remove one hand from the handlebars and rub her knee and calf gently. Thankfully, a quiet turnout appeared and he gratefully pulled over into the shade of a tree and let the engine fall silent. Before he could do more, Natasha reversed her earlier sinuous move and was once more in his lap. Helmets fell away and they wordlessly clung together for a long time.

"It wasn't the same without you," Steve mused almost conversationally as he stroked over Natasha's familiar curves. "I knew I would miss you, just not how much." Leaning back, he hooked a finger under to chin to raise her face so that he could watch the ocean-colored eyes. "You don't have to come back, you're your own woman, Natasha. But we'd all really like to have you back if you'll have us."

"And you?" She couldn't stop the soft question, mouth brushing his, feeling his gentle smile.

"Whatever heart I have is yours, Nat, damaged goods that it might be."

"Maybe together, we can make a whole heart."


End file.
